The Slytherin Legacy
by DiscardedNotes
Summary: When speaking parseltongue in a house known for its allegiance to the dark, who knows what could happen? With tensions rising and friendships beginning to crumble, will Harry Potter break under the pressure or will he stand apart from expectations and discover secrets long buried and forgotten?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome to a fic I started writing in 2014 and never posted. I'm currently ironing out anything I'm not happy with, fixing some errors and dividing the whole huge thing into readable chapters of decent length. I'll have approximately 4 chapters total of content that was written up in 2014, the rest of which may or may not happen based on if I feel like writing or not.**

 **So, welcome to the discovery of the Slytherin legacy, and enjoy~**

* * *

Harry was done. Completely and utterly done! He had watched Cedric get killed last year and saw Voldemort come back, duelled with him and barely escaped with his life. He had to cope with the guilt of causing Cedric's death and the nightmares that followed and had been shunned by his friends mostly throughout the year. If that wasn't enough, any and all letters he had sent to his friends had been completely ignored.

Once the Order had finally deemed everything ready to come release him from the hellhole he had dubbed Durzkaban, things hadn't gone much better. Ron and Hermione had both insisted that ignoring him had been the right thing to do as per Dumbledore's orders and thus saw no reason for Harry to be even remotely angry with them over the fact.

Being reunited with Sirius was only a small solace, as he didn't even get to spend much time with his godfather. Every morning the prophet would have another headline about how insane Dumbledore was and how much of an attention-seeking prat he was, and the Ministry's smear campaign against him didn't look as though it would be stopping anytime soon.

The adults even seemed to think they could order his life about for him, telling him to hurry up and forgive Ron and Hermione for not mailing him as he had 'no right' to give them a hard time over it.

Harry was quickly becoming sick of the whole charade. Cedric's death still weighed heavily on him but by the way everyone was acting, they seemed to already have forgotten about it completely. Neither did anyone seem to remember that both of his supposedly best friends had abandoned him under the face of the Tournament. They above everyone should have realised he wanted nothing to do with the damn thing!

His temper kept getting away from him more easily as the days pressed on, snapping at everyone around him when sensitive topics like last year and Cedric were brought up carelessly, not that anyone seemed to notice what was bothering him. Or if they did notice, they simply didn't care.

Day after day he was reminded of everything that had happened the previous year, and it only cemented the fact that wizards were fickle creatures in his mind. They would follow the most popular opinion like sheep and care little about the end result. That had been proved when not only Ron and Hermione but also nearly the entire school turned against him despite everything he had always done to protect those around him.

It was a week and a half into his stay at Grimmauld Place that Harry had finally had enough of their blabbering and ordering him about. He needed time to properly mourn and come to terms with what had happened the previous year. All he wanted was for everyone to simply stop and leave him alone, so he made sure they would.

It was the next morning that he announced that he wanted to be left alone completely (to cope with the hardships of Cedric's loss and Voldemort's return, as an excuse) and would come out only when he wanted to. Once he had managed to make that clear — and get rid of the racket that ensued — he locked himself in the Black Library, occasionally switching to the Family Tree room. Both were quite intriguing.

Within the Black Library he had discovered a small marble statue of a king cobra, coiled and ready to strike. Not keeping into account that this was a fully magical home with a centuries old legacy, he began ranting at it, expressing and outing the emotions he had been feeling all throughout the summer, explaining what had happened and how he was being treated as a result. It had felt good to vent.

What he hadn't realised was that as he paced he had slipped into parseltongue, as he had been speaking to the snake. Whilst pacing he came near the back wall of the library which, when picking up on the hissed language, swiftly folded open to reveal a doorway to a hidden chamber that had obviously not been there before.

Apparently the Blacks were somehow related to the Slytherin family, which caused a reaction. The sudden grating noise startled Harry and he got his wand out, turning to face the origin of the sound. His eyes widened as he regarded the altered wall, which had been covered by a solid bookcase only moments earlier. Upon closer inspection he noticed the bookcase had several serpents engraved in the wood, hissing and coiling along the sides of the wood contently.

Within the doorway was an elegant but simple door with a dark green varnish and the Slytherin crest engraved on the doorknob. All in all it looked rather plain for a hidden door to untold secrets in the back of the manor of Dark Arts practitioners...

A little hesitantly he opened the door and entered a rather well kept study, which seemed to be an extension of the library for parselmouths. Once he requested it, the lights flickered on and he was left to stare at all the books and journals that were spread over the place, covering every all in sight and more.

Though not unordered, it looked like would be quite difficult to find anything specific in there. Still, his curiosity got the better of him and he approached the desk on the side of the room and sat down, admiring one of the leather-bound journals that lay there. One of the spines read _'Septimus Archonus Slytherin'_ and seemed to belong to one of Slytherin's descendants; talk about getting more than you bargained for.

He had never expected to find something of such value in the Black library. It would have made much more sense had these been stored in the Slytherin vault where they belonged, but perhaps these were all Slytherin-blooded Blacks? It would make more sense to keep hose books here for the next heir to find than in the Slytherin vault, which was most likely very difficult to get at.

What was even more curious to him was that this journal belonged to someone that had lived only about three hundred years ago. In wizarding values that wasn't much at all, especially considering the Slytherin line had all but died out according to history, ending with the current lord: Voldemort.

Opening the journal he was surprised to find no charms or curses attached to it, before berating himself on not checking before he touched the books in the first place. With a start he realised that these books had been placed here for the next heir to read and learn from. But why was that the case?

Harry wasn't of Slytherin blood as far as he knew, so— By all accounts, Voldemort should have gotten a hold of these, though he did not like the prospect of Voldemort in possession of the mountain of knowledge presented here. It was a little surprising that none of the Blacks in his service had handed the library to their lord, but then perhaps they had not known of this room either?

As he began to read and he learned of Septimus' youth through the boy's eyes his remaining irritation faded, the rest having been mostly absorbed by the innocent marble cobra. The distraction was quite welcome and soon he found himself spending hours on end reading from the diary.

In the process, he learned a remarkable amount of titbits about pureblood customs and mannerisms. After all, young Septimus had recorded his lessons and what he found interesting about them, what he thought could be improved and so on. He really was quite studious as a child, unlike Harry.

Although now that he thought about it, he was having a lot of fun learning from these experiences now that he had no one lording over him or pressuring him into working. He found he very much liked this method. He might even follow in Septimus' footsteps and hire tutors for his own classes. Maybe he would even finally _not_ be rubbish at potions, who knew?

Pureblood society really was very intricate though. He found that the ways one addressed an Heir or a Lord differed and that different bows and curtsies represented different greetings, keeping count of the status of the other, their social standing and their power, be it political or financial. Septimus' journal was really useful as it wasn't as out-dated as some others would be, though he would learn a lot about the foundation of the current society if he would read the rest. Which he certainly was planning on doing if his current vigour was any indication.

His reading into Septimus' past had been a very eye-opening experience. He watched as the boy became a man and recounted what he could of the process of becoming Lord Black, which was the only of his titles he could use publicly. Other families were mentioned as well and he was surprised to find mention of the Potters and the almost friendly rivalry the lords Potter and Black were entertaining at the time.

Doing the math easily enough, Harry realised the Potter seat on the Wizengamot would still be active, albeit possibly under proxy, and that in only two years, he would be expected to take up his lordship and take his oaths to join their governing body. It was a daunting prospect that had him wishing otherwise, but looking around to the books surrounding him, he felt a sense of peace settle over him. He had all the guidance he would need and more at his disposal in this very room, not to mention the portraits in the halls that he could ask for advice from.

Knowing this now and intent to make a good impression once he returned to Hogwarts in a scant few weeks he began pouring over the journals of Septimus Slytherin-Black's life again, focussing with a sharper eye on the lessons the other had lived through by his tutors as a child. It made him wonder how many of his peers had to deal with that very same situation...

Neville was undoubtedly being prepared by his grandmother to fulfil his role as Heir and future Lord of the house Longbottom, and loath a he was to admit it, Malfoy had undoubtedly been trained to fit perfectly with the pureblood ways. Parkinson, Nott, Greengrass and several other classmates would have dealt with this as well and should be wearing their heir rings currently.

With all of his newly attained knowledge he knew he was due for a visit to Gringotts to retrieve his own, which came with it's own set of problems. Dumbledore hadn't allowed him to leave Privet Drive, so he likely wouldn't let him leave Grimmauld Place either and getting in contact with his account manager was, while important, not going to be an easy task...

Finally, after a lot of inner debating and a healthy meal that Dobby had brought him he decided to finally come out of seclusion, mingle with those treacherous bastards for a while and then take Sirius apart to talk about it and swear him to secrecy either way. His godfather, raised as a pureblood, would know what he should do.

He sighed, already knowing Mrs Weasley was going to rant and demand he get a proper meal as soon as he got downstairs, even though they all knew that Dobby brought him his food daily, as well as provided snacks whenever he requested them.

He had refused contact with the rest of them and had Dobby arrange everything, including a check for potions on anything Molly Weasley made for him, in which several compulsion potions were detected on a fairly regular basis. That sole fact had gotten him to force a decision onto himself and never trust her again, or the man he knew was giving her orders: Albus Dumbledore.

If he had been allowed to use magic he would have cast a disillusionment charm or something to hide his presence but he had no such luck so he would have to deal with being uncovered as soon as he set foot outside of the library. Though if he intended on going to deal with them, it would be in a pureblood way; that would shut them up.

He was going to have a ball if they were going to freak out and proclaim him Dark simply because of his change in attitude though. It would only fuel his choice to remove himself from the war and become neither. He would simply be grey and damned be those who demanded otherwise! He had no obligation to any of them.

With that he gathered both of his instincts, Gryffindor courage and Slytherin cunning and finally unlocked the library door to head downstairs— though not before ordering Dobby to keep anyone from entering the library. No one was to discover his secret study after all. It seemed the walls had ears as Molly Weasley rushed out of the kitchen as soon as he set foot on the stairs of the first floor. Bloody overbearing woman!

"Harry! Oh dear, you're finally back. I do hope you're alright? You look a bit pale perhaps, nothing a good meal can't fix! Come on dearie, I'm sure you've had nothing to eat yet!" The familiarity she proclaimed annoyed him to no ends now, especially after having read about purebloods and she and Mr Weasley were both purebloods, so what the hell? They acted _nothing_ like a proper Lord and Lady would, respected house or otherwise.

"Mrs Weasley, please calm down. I have had a meal, I assure you, and I am not ready to come talk with everyone yet. However I do find myself with the need to speak with my godfather; so if you'll excuse me." He had been impeccably polite, which was exactly what had stunned the Weasley matriarch into silence long enough for him to brush past her and find Sirius in the kitchen with the others.

Before they could send a barrage of questions at him that he knew would come, he held up his hand, halting them. "Sirius, do you have a moment? I'd like to speak with you, in private." He knew that Sirius would realise what his straightened posture and the seriousness on his face and in his gaze meant, having been brought up in what Harry had learned over the past few weeks. A curt nod from Sirius was followed with him getting up and excusing himself from the conversation he had been partaking in.

The two of them excluded themselves in what Harry found to be the Black study. It was quite magnificent really but now was not the time to think on the subtle beauty of the room or it's furniture. Once the two of them were alone, Sirius instantly broke formality.

"Harry, are you okay? We haven't seen you for weeks, everyone was worried sick about you..." Harry simply smiled in return and shook his head. "I'm doing much better Sirius. But what I'm going to tell you and ask of you cannot leave these walls, so if you could?" He trailed off, knowing no explanation was necessary, though he had no way of knowing if Sirius would agree.

"Don't worry Harry, these walls are completely warded, including secrecy wards that cause the matters inside to be kept secret. I couldn't tell anyone even if I wanted to." He grinned his usual wolfish grin, looking a little smug, even though he had obviously not done the warding himself. Trust a Black to be paranoid about information, though quite justly, of course.

"Good. I'm sorry about the formality just now Sirius but I've come across some very interesting books in the library and I've learned a lot about pureblood society and politics while I was locked away. I need to get to Gringotts soon and arrange for a bunch of things to be fixed, along with my emancipation."

The new information cause Sirius pause, registering what Harry had said as quickly as possible. "Wait, emancipation?" Harry grinned and nodded. "By granting me a full trial in front of the Wizengamot for underage magic they declared me an adult by default of treating me like one. I've got a feeling the TriWizard Tournament might have played up on that as well. If I get the right papers signed I can use magic outside of school. I reckon I'll need it either way, with Voldemort on the loose."

Sirius nodded, his expression grave though his eyes betrayed glee at Harry's sly plan. "I don't think ditching the Order will be too much of a problem. Just set them up and say we'll be studying some stuff together and they'll leave us alone as long as we want." Sirius grinned, mischief obvious as he celebrated the thought of getting out of the house.

"Well then, is it possible for us to go right now? It's still pretty early and I need new robes. We both know I can't do any form of business in these rags. Not to mention be seen in them in public." He knew now how much public opinion and appearance mattered now and he scrunched his nose at the thought of his presentation during previous years. It only served to showcase how nervous he was though, making Sirius laugh.

"Don't worry cub, the Goblins don't care for appearances it much and you'll probably want to do Gringotts business before showing yourself in public as the Potter Heir. Not to mention I've got a few surprises going and this is the perfect chance for me to finish them, right under Dumbledore's nose." Harry grinned at that statement. "You don't like Dumbledore much either, huh?"

Harry was immensely glad for the acceptance that Sirius was giving him and the help he offered and though it was a slight bit unexpected, he did feel he could trust his godfather— he had learned early on always to trust his instincts. They planned for a little while about how they intended to go about the matter before deciding on a plan and having Sirius announce to the rest they were going to be busy studying for a while and that Dobby would tend to them for food and the like.

Everything was coming along marvellously and Sirius used a glamour spell to make Harry look a bit more like a Black, the difference would be enough to hide his identity for the trip's duration. Hiding under his father's invisibility cloak they made their way out of the house and apparated to Diagon Alley.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Welcome to The Slytherin Legacy chapter two, Gringotts edition~**

 **As usual, enjoy!**

* * *

Sneaking out of Grimmauld Place while it was fully occupied with members of the Order had been far easier than Harry had ever expected it to be. It was laughably so, even. He could have left at any time and no one would have noticed a thing!

The fresh air of Diagon Alley was a welcome change after the weeks of being stuck inside both at Durzkaban and then at Grimmauld Place. They checked that the glamour Harry was wearing was holding strong and swiftly transfigured his robes so that they less resembled the only robes Harry actually owned, his Hogwarts uniform.

Sirius remained under the cloak until they reached Gringotts. Everything went off without a hitch and even though aurors were littered across the alley as an extra guard, courtesy of the paranoid Ministry, no one seemed to recognise the Potter heir as he casually made his way towards the bank.

Once inside they pocketed the cloak and stepped up to the teller, undoing the glamour to keep the Goblins from believing they were there to deceive them. The goblin teller looked down his nose at the guests and waited for them to speak.

"I wish to speak with my account manager, please." Harry stated simply, knowing that the real business began when one of the Manager Goblins would show up. Meanwhile, being polite would get him far enough, just like being himself would. The goblin nodded and called for a cart goblin to go fetch Account Manager Ripclaw. Harry thanked them once the Account Manager appeared and was led to the goblin's office.

"Mr Potter, it is good to see you have finally decided to grace Gringotts with your presence." Ripclaw stated, his displeasure easily notable in his tone of voice. Goblins weren't too fond of being kept waiting and the Potter Estate was rather large and difficult to manage without consent from its head of house.

Naturally, Ripclaw had refused any meddling from Dumbledore, whom had been attempting to work under the pretence of being Harry's magical guardian. Only the young heir Potter could arrange any changes as the future Lord Potter. Harry sighed at that statement, knowing this was not off to a good start and much was to be done. "It seems we have started off on a bad foot master Ripclaw, I was unaware of any summons made for my person."

Ripclaw's expression darkened at that new piece of information. "You have not, then, been receiving post from Gringotts bank, or the monthly statements concerning your estate?" The goblin asked, brows furrowed in confusion and contempt, the latter directed to the perpetrator of this breach.

"No sir, I have not." Harry replied, inclining his head. Sirius stood off to the side, assessing the situation and frowning as well, only one man would have attempted such a thing, and have the power to pull it off. Ripclaw had little doubt as to who had been intercepting Harry's mail as well; this was a breach of Gringotts security and confidentiality and one not easily mended. He would most certainly take this up to Director Ragnok for verification and correction; meanwhile...

"I see. Gringotts offers it's deepest apologies. We were unaware of this breach in our security. Naturally, we will do what must be done to compensate; the privacy and safety of our clients' business is our top priority." The goblin inclined its head at Harry, who simply smiled in return. "I understand, master Ripclaw, although I must wonder why anyone would wish to keep such information from me."

Ripclaw gave Harry a very toothy smirk, assuring him that person would pay for their crimes against the Potter estate, and against Gringotts. "There is little doubt that the purpose was to withhold your knowledge of the estate in general, not wishing for you to take up your mantle as the rightful heir and lord of the Potter family."

Harry nodded thoughtfully at that; certainly, Dumbledore had tried to keep this a secret from him for his own benefit. What that benefit was, however, Harry did not know. The best thing he could do now was figure out what had become of his finances and how he could fix the mess Dumbledore had undoubtedly left for him.

"Could we go over the statements then?" He asked, "I would like to see what my parents have left me and if anything was taken unduly." A nod and a few rustles of paper later Ripclaw retrieved a rather large ledger and took out the summary that was always placed at the front before handing it to the young Potter.

Aside from the yearly sums taken from his trust vault at the beginning of each year for his shopping and allowance, he also found several large amounts of gold had been removed at somewhat random timings. This made him believe it might not have even been for the school, which was why he gestured for Sirius to come look at the amounts.

"Sirius, do you think Dumbledore took these out for the Order?" The thunderous look on his godfather's face said it all. "Without a doubt. He did say we had an anonymous benefactor donating steady amounts of gold. Those funds helped build up the Order quite a bit. I can't believe he was stealing from you!" Harry gestured for his godfather to sit and hopefully calm down, as he was emanating a low growl.

"Master Ripclaw, what can be done about this?" Ripclaw quickly and simply explained that Gringotts bank would be fining the Dumbledore vault for theft and take out compensation before removing any stolen gold from his personal account, or the one used for the Order of the Phoenix. If the money could not be removed, the accounts would be frozen indefinitely until their owner comes to undo this and he will then be fined directly.

Thinking about it, Harry realised that while Ripclaw did keep the organization of his accounts secure, any with a key and Harry's apparent consent could access his trust vault and remove whatever they wish. That was how Dumbledore had been in possession of his vault key and how Mrs Weasley had been able to hand him his money prior to going shopping without going for a withdrawal himself.

"You must realise that this will most likely completely destroy Dumbledore's financial status. I take it this will not be a problem?" Harry smirked at the prospect of seeing the headmaster completely broke. Now wouldn't that be amusing to see? "Not at all, master Ripclaw."

When that had been taken care of, they went through the Potter estate, revealing that aside from the cottage at Godric's Hollow he possessed Potter Castle in Scotland and a few manors scattered across the Isles and France. Among these was the Marauder's Lair, the location of which was unknown to anyone not a Marauder. It was easy to tell that Sirius would enjoy going there with Harry and show him every nook and cranny of the place from the wistful expression on Padfoot's face, which made Harry grin in anticipation.

He also possessed several assets in companies such as Quality Quiddich Supplies and Twillfit and Tatting's— even a fair percentage of the Daily Prophet was under his control! The possibilities of those assets made him think he might be able to pull some strings and either get rid of that horrid Skeeter woman, or make sure she stayed in line. Having her print lie after lie about him was doing major damage to the Potter name, something he could not have happening.

After having found the secret part of the Library in the Black house he decided to try one more thing before finishing up what he had come here for. "Master Ripclaw, I was wondering if it was possible to see if I have any blood ties to other magical families. I am dreadfully ignorant about my own as it is." He said, inclining his head in disappointment. He had missed out on so much because of Voldemort and had never even been given a chance to truly learn anything about his parents other than what they looked like and were good at.

The goblin seemed quite willing to acquiesce to his request, almost eagerly so. But then many old lines were tied to the currently active families and if the goblins could get stagnated gold flowing again, it would only increase their benefits and standing within the goblin nation.

"If you would place three drops of blood in this potion, Mr Potter?" After doing so, the potion was poured onto a piece of never-ending parchment and began to fill out in different colour writing. Even the thickness of the words or the cursive they were in changed depending on the names that were written. It took quite a bit to finish the entire line but once it was done, all four colours had been mixed to fill his tree.

Near the top third of the parchment, three very well known lines merged with the Potter name through marriage, though at fairly spread-out intervals. Most prominent was the Gryffindor line, which had retained its own name a long time even whilst mixing with the Potter line. Eventually the Gryffindor name became but a rumour, rather than a known and prided fact.

Slytherin had also made its way into the Potter line a few times in the past and again through his mother who seemed to be a descendant of a squib that had been cast off from their family quite a while ago.

The name that shocked those in attendance the most was one near the very top of the parchment. The name Peverell and its lordship had fallen into stagnation centuries ago, never to be heard from again until now. Only whispers of their artefacts had been made known, until now. To have a direct descendant of the three brothers discovered was quite impressive.

Moving on the parchment's general cursive was for _wizards_ , bold cursive for _**squibs**_ and regular script was used for muggles. It was surprising to find quite a few muggles had been married into the family along with a long line of squibs in the Slytherin family who had lost touch with their heritage.

This made him wonder if this was the case with other muggleborns as well. Wouldn't that just put a huge block into Voldemort's plans?

' _ **Boy-Who-Lived discovers muggleborns as descendants of dead lines."**_

Now that would be a headliner.

He chuckled softly to himself, going up and down the list to find he was also related to the Black family through his grandmother, which in turn, related him to the Malfoys. Now wasn't there a jolly thought? He and Draco were never going to live that one down. Not to mention the incredible fuss Ron would kick up if he found out.

He would keep this little titbit to himself, maybe inform Malfoy over time as bargaining material or a gesture of good faith. It would be an inconvenience to be on bad terms with family members he would later become the head of, should Sirius go through with declaring him his heir. Not to mention a tentative friendship with Heir Malfoy could be beneficial and give him an entrée in the current wizarding upper class social life and politics.

He was getting off track. "Huh, so I really _am_ related to Slytherin." Well, wasn't that a surprise? He held claim to the title 'Heir of Slytherin' after all, best not to inform the student body of that fact. Then again, he was also an heir to the Gryffindor line, which could be a boon to let the school discover.

"Indeed, young lord, and it would be my pleasure to see which of the old families accept you as their rightful heir." Harry inclined his head, privately wondering how that even worked. "Has one Tom Riddle come here to claim the Slytherin line before?"

A cold laugh came from the goblin then. "Ah yes, the Slytherin ring declined him quite violently if I recall." So Tom had lied about being the Lord Slytherin. He wasn't the lord or even the heir, not really. How surprising that Harry might be, when Voldemort was not given right to the claim.

Though perhaps it had to do with the Slytherins prising blood purity as most of the old lines did. Tom was the half-blooded son of a muggle and a near-squib but Harry was now proved to be a pureblood due to his mother's ancestry, making him more suitable for the Lordship. Curious, how these things worked.

"I see. My lordship is also why I have come here, Ripclaw. I wish to be emancipated and, if my godfather is correct, being forced to participate in the Triwizard Tournament at the age of fourteen and being pushed through a full criminal trial before the Wizengamot has already given me that right."

The master goblin summoned a lower ranked goblin and had commanded the rings of the two founders to be fetched along with the Potter and Peverell lord rings as well as the Black heir ring before replying to this. "Yes, it seems your laws have already declared you an adult, in which case you will only need to sign the papers and wear the ring of your family to prove your emancipation.

A snap of the goblin's fingers had the emancipation documents flying towards the Potter heir and landing neatly in front of him. The required signatures had been given through the signatures of the trial, thus not alerting anyone of the request and still using a completely legal and valid document. Harry signed his name with the blood quill before the paper flashed a bright golden. "It is done. If you would perhaps show me your wand, Lord Potter, we may see if there is any residual trace upon your wand."

Harry simply took out his wand and handed it to the goblin, surprising the other quite a bit, as no wizard _ever_ willingly gave up his wand to a goblin, especially so freely. That one act gave Harry astonishing liberties with the goblin nation for life as well as giving the master goblin the shock of his life.

The goblin frowned after performing his own scans, discovering quite a few residual spells that should not have been there, as well as a loyalty one directed from the wand to Harry himself, as if the wand had been forcibly matched with the Potter. He removed the spells and warned Harry of what had been on the wand.

Indeed Harry found the wand was no longer as comfortable and it rather tried to work against him, at which he simply pocketed the wand with regret. "I must thank you Master Ripclaw, I may have never found my true wand had it not been for you. I owe you my thanks." Ripclaw almost snorted at that, finding Harry's gratitude for the act ridiculous, but perhaps the boy did not quite realise...

"Young lord Potter, it is I that is grateful to you for your trust in us. No wizard gives up his or her wand to a goblin willingly, not even for spell checks." He said, surprising Harry in turn. "I see... A foolish decision on their part, as they do not seem to realise the power the goblin nation holds over their finances. The bank could easily deny access to a family's gold should the persons have offended them. Which I take is a common occurrence." Harry had seen enough wizards sneering within the bank to do the math.

"Indeed, such a shame on their part." Ripclaw grinned proudly. This boy was far smarter than his fellow lords it seemed, as no other wizard seemed to care or realise that the creatures they belittled daily were also fully capable of cutting off their finances should they wish it. My, a human with a goblin's viciousness... What an inspiring combination.

Meanwhile, the boxes with the rings had arrived and were stalled out in front of the young lord. Harry decided to go for the most neglected ancestry first, smearing a drop of blood over the box' seal to unlock it before taking out the lord ring. It was made of very well polished silver, a bright emerald sitting on top of the ring, the Slytherin crest carved into it.

He carefully put it onto the ring finger of his right hand, reserving the left for the Potter ring. There was a bright flash of silver and green magic around the ring, which swirled around harry briefly before settling again, the ring resizing to match his finger. 'Follow your ancestry well. Do us proud.' Were the words that echoed through his mind when the last of the magic settled and Harry smiled when it did, mumbling softly to himself. "I will."

Next was the Gryffindor ring and the process repeated itself, the outburst this time in bright red and gold, the ring made of gold, a ruby sitting on top with the Gryffindor crest. The ring once again resized to his finger and moulded itself to the Slytherin ring, displaying both halves of the rings as one. 'It takes courage to choose your own path. Only you decide.' Were the words that resonated in his head this time, causing him to smile and nod. This was his path, and his alone; no one could change his choices but himself. No longer would he be a puppet in a battle he did not wish to fight.

The Peverell ring was next, a dark ruby with an odd symbol in the middle happily settled onto his finger as well, red magics surrounding the ring briefly. 'You have freed the Peverell ring of its taint. Welcome young lord, may you return the Peverell name to it's former glory.'

While having no idea what taint the ring's magics mentioned, he filed the information away for later and looked at the two remaining boxes stalled out for him. These were the most important in Harry's opinion, as their legacies were most closely tied to him.

When the Potter ring accepted him, it was like a gasp of fresh air, a loving sigh and a hug washing over him all at the same time. He'd never felt anything so wonderful in his life. Lastly was the Black Heir ring, which he was advised to keep on a chain around his neck until Lord Black, aka Sirius, could make the appointment of his heir official.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: As surprised as I was about how little editing the first two chapters needed, it looks like I've finallyfound the problem chapters ^^"  
Chapter three needed a fair but not extreme amount of editing but chapter 4 will take me a while, if my complete rewrite of the beginning is any indication. **

**I'm definitely not happy with the, shall we say, subtlety of chapter 4's content right now, but I'll be working to correct that. Which also means there'll very likely be at least a chapter 5 in the works to allow for both my changes and the existing content of chapter 4 to happen. No promises though.**

 **Don't mind me mysteriously rambling about the woes of my former writing though. Past Lumi did well, but not as well as she thought she did XD**

 **As such, here's the much improved chapter 3 I'm sure some of you have been waiting for.**  
 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Ripclaw had been brooding on a few things while the young Potter went through the acceptance of the rings, mainly the boy's appearance. He was thin, uncommonly so, he should not even need glasses and he was beginning to wonder if young Mr Potter had been checked properly for injury. Surely the Hogwarts medi-witch would have done a proper job, however one could never be sure when it came to wizards.

Once the procedure to claim the lordships was over with Ripclaw carefully treaded forward, both curious and dreading to see if his suspicions were accurate. While he and other goblins didn't care for the health of a simple wizard, let alone a child, this one was a rather important client who could greatly help in reviving stagnated gold and hopefully keep that gold flowing. Which the boy could were he to survive long enough to produce heirs to his titles.

"Young lord Potter, in light of recent events I was wondering if you would be inclined to allow one of our healers to watch over you. Many injustices have been done to you and, for a small price, I would gladly recommend one of our best healers to you." Most of the business had been done for now and they could look over his new assets and family obligations soon enough. The health issue on the other hand could better be taken care of immediately.

Harry had looked up in surprise at that but after a small glance to Sirius, accepted. This was why he now lay nearly naked on a bed, a goblin healer muttering spells in gobbledegook to scan him for injuries. The results had been quite shocking to her.

He had been found to be the host of residual basilisk venom and a slight trace of phoenix tears. Aside from those substances, he had ingested several loyalty and compulsion potions that would mould him towards trusting certain people more than others. The targets were unknown, but Harry could guess considering what the Order had recently been trying to dose him with.

They would use a potions regimen to flush the effects out of his system and he would be required to stay in Gringotts' private sector until he was healed. Some of his bones also needed to be vanished and regrown due to the badly healed fractures and breaks from his childhood, and he would be given potions for his eyesight as well.

If all went well, Harry would be in top shape in a few weeks, which was more than long enough in his opinion. It would be dreadful to lie still for so long, but the result would be worth it. The goblins would also counteract the malnutrition and abuse Harry had suffered; perhaps even see a mind healer to help heal certain traumas, like Cedric's death. Why none of these things had been provided for him before was both puzzling and worrying.

Another thing they hadn't been expecting were the blocks found upon Harry's magical core, which they carefully unravelled, releasing the boy's magic further. A few of the blocks were rather harmless and meant as protection to keep Harry from summoning things from all over the house when he was younger due to accidental magic.

Another block was placed upon him by someone else to restrict his learning capabilities and one more was meant to withhold a quarter of his power and abilities, including parseltongue. Harry vaguely wondered if maybe now he would succeed at parselmagic, the idea of which had come to him earlier during his reading. Septimus had never attempted it but no doubt someone else had.

When the blocks fully released he was able to feel his magic fill his body and flow around before settling down in his core, obviously pleased to finally be freed of its constraints.

Suspicion on who had placed the bonds was naturally built from pure speculation, but most of the suspicion was directed towards Dumbledore once again. He did have access to Harry when he was younger after all. He may have just come in one night after having delivered the child to Privet Drive and cast the blocks on him without anyone else being wiser.

Apparently his magic had been struggling to free itself though, as he had been becoming more interested in learning and more responsible in general recently. Regardless, knowing something like that had been done to him made him feel far more disgusted than he'd ever imagined he could feel.

After a rather eventful two weeks, his body had recuperated completely and he now looked much more like the nobility he was supposed to be a part of. His Slytherin side would certainly have been proud.

He had grown taller, matching Ron and Malfoy now, and he had filled out quite a bit. He no longer looked like an oddly twisted wireframe and his glasses had also been discarded, his sight now completely perfect. It was quite a relief to no longer need his glasses, but it would take some getting used to. His hair had also grown out rather quickly due to the nutrients in his potions regimen and he found it far more manageable when he could tie it into a short ponytail, the new weight keeping it somewhat tamed.

His healer had made sure he was in pristine condition before releasing him, though she hadn't let him get too bored in the meantime. Even without Sirius by his side to explain everything, he'd been given papers to look through to give them a head start into what his holdings looked like and what each family's assets were exactly. Not that it made much sense to him though...

Among the explanations that Ripclaw gave him during some of his visits was the information that the rings, as they were formed out of magic, held many magical properties. One of those was that all the rings could become invisible at will and that none of them could be removed by anyone but Harry himself, thus keeping him safe from exposing his lordships too soon or having someone attempt to steal his rights from him.

Finally released, Sirius had been sent a missive to present himself at Gringotts as Harry's current guardian to look over the remaining paperwork with the young lord and his account manager. This meeting was where Ripclaw informed them that the Dumbledore and Order vaults had been frozen and a missive would be sent to the headmaster, under accidental delay, of course.

Once that had been arranged they decided to briefly go over the summaries of the young lord Potter's current holdings. It was upon pure impulse that Harry asked to visit the Slytherin vault once they were done. Naturally his request was granted and the duo was led by a cart goblin down to the deepest levels of the complex, vault number 37. The Slytherin vault.

He hadn't been quite sure what to expect but upon entrance Harry had been completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of jewels, books, weapons and artefacts that were stored here. It was a well of new information just waiting to be discovered and Harry eagerly skimmed through the shelves, finding almost only parselscript in them. He picked out a few he found interesting, mostly records on the proud family itself, and set them aside.

Next came a few well-tailored robes that were set to adjust to the person wearing them, several daggers that had been soaked in basilisk venom and a small rectangular box. Harry knew what was inside of it the moment he touched the lid and carefully stored it within his robes, wanting to keep close to his person. No one would get his hands on this, _ever_. He knew instinctively that it belonged to him now.

He was given a bottomless bag to fit all of his new belongings in and shrunk it to fit in his pocket. The box held a special place, where Harry could easily reach it. Once that was done they thanked Ripclaw profusely and promised to be in contact by sending their letters via Dobby, the house-elf. It would be the safest way and Dobby could be ordered not to tell anyone. This way Dumbledore would be forced to keep his sticky hands out of Harry's business. He was a lord of three Ancient and Noble houses now, after all.

With that the two of them exited the bank, Sirius going under the cloak again so he could still advise Harry silently. Seeing the sunlight again after two weeks of near solidary confinement felt absolutely wonderful.

Not wanting to return to the stuffy confinement of Grimmauld Place just yet the two of them decided to wander the alley, taking the opportunity to get some more shopping done as Harry needed to replace his wardrobe. Considering his impromptu growth spurt none of his clothes fit anymore, after all.

Twillfit and Tattings was an odd store, found in one of Diagon Alley's little side streets. It looked rather posh but at the same time had a warm and welcoming air that made Harry feel much more at ease than the bustling and chatty Madame Malkin's ever had.

After being fitted and picking the colours and trims his new robes would be in they left for the rest of their shopping. They would return to pick up the finished products in two hours; the rest of his new wardrobe would be picked up by Dobby.

Meanwhile, noon had struck and the both of them decided to get something to eat. The downside to that was the fact that Sirius was invisible, therefor could not order. There was an easy solution to that however and they entered an alley off the side briefly where Sirius applied a glamour to himself with a flourish and abandoned the cloak.

"What do you think?" He grinned mischievously, now sporting dirty blond hair and green eyes to match Harry's.

"Wicked!" He'd never known such magic was possible, and getting to have a proper meal out with his godfather was an opportunity he would not miss.

With their new changes both of them could remain unrecognised as they made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, a good place to eat and keep up with the gossip, as well. The duo made themselves comfortable at a small booth off the side, ordered some food and drinks from Tom and relaxed; glad to have this time to themselves.

Once they had started eating they chatted about anything and everything, falling into a comfortable silence before Harry finally asked, "Sirius, I was wondering... How well do you know Knockturn Alley? I might want to go there for some extra shopping."

Sirius raised a brow but wasn't quite protesting the idea just yet, instead answering his question. "Yeah, I know the Alley pretty well. It's a bit shady but it's not so bad if you know where to go and how to act. Mum used to take us there pretty frequently for shopping and James and I sometimes sneaked into Borgin and Burke's to find inspiration for pranks and such."

He chuckled at the memories, quite well remembering how Borgin had noticed them once and had chased them out of the shop by hexing them black and blue. Those were good times.

While he might take some issue with Harry visiting Knockturn Alley, he was at least relieved Harry trusted him enough to ask about it instead of taking off on his own out of curiosity and get hurt or lost in there. With Sirius' current reputation and supervision it should be safe enough to venture in. Not to mention most of the worst sort stayed away until sunset at least.

Once they were done and left the pub. Sirius suggested they go visit a bookshop at the edge of Knockturn, something Harry wasn't opposed to at all. His vision on what he found acceptable had shifted rather dramatically during his stay in the Black library, which was full of Dark Arts tomes. Not to mention his ancestors from the Slytherin Cove, as he wanted to dub it, had all been practitioners as well.

He knew full well Flourish and Blotts only had 'Ministry approved' reading material, which tended to be not very helpful when you considered how close-minded the Ministry actually was. Even though there were many books to choose from, they weren't always useful.

Just like Knockturn Alley itself, the bookshop was rather glum and covered with different shades of ochre along the walls, or was it just dirt? They went through a few rows of shelves before Harry found a book on the mind arts. Skipping briefly through the introduction he decided to take one. It looked like a very interesting field of self-improvement based magic, and he could use all the help he could get. Grimmauld Place was quite likely to have a few books on the subject as well so he would have more material to base his studies on. Hermione would be proud Or at least, she would be once she got her head out of Dumbledore's arse, he thought bitterly.

Wandering a bit further he found a book on elemental magic and took it with him as well, out of pure curiosity; it didn't matter if he was an element-magus or not. Harry also came across a potions chart and book that looked old but very useful and picked them up. Sirius returned to him with a bunch of books in his arms as well, mostly about the Dark Arts but also about runes and wards, something that Harry hadn't actually thought about until now.

After having paid, the two made their way to Borgin and Burke's, wanting to just have a quick look around. Luckily the shop was empty, so they entered. Before Harry even knew what was going on, he felt his magic react, spreading out and throbbing against him as it drew him towards certain objects. He wasn't quite sure what to make of his magic suddenly deciding what to do on its own but when the Slytherin ring pulsed softly he calmed himself. The items must have something to do with the founder then, for his magic to be searching them out...

One of the items was a jewellery box with the Slytherin crest engraved on top, silver snakes littering the corners, their eyes bright rubies. He traced the box, a tingly feeling running through his fingers before it settled, the box feeling comfortably warm to the touch now.

Borgin, realising he had customers at this odd time of day, came bustling out from the back, gasping and quickly making his way over when he saw what was happening. "Young man, I do not think it wise to touch objects you know nothing about." He warned, knowing that box had no scruple about zapping anyone that came near it, badly.

Harry simply chuckled. "This is not dangerous to me." He simply stated, picking up the box and caressing one of the snakes on the side, which seemed to ripple briefly in pleasure. Borgin's eyes widened as he caught the movement and made the connection. Was it even possible—?

"My apologies my lord, I did not realise..." He said softly, looking both cautious and calculating as he regarded the teenager in front of him, taking claim to the Slytherin name.

Harry smiled softly, knowing the mild glamour Sirius had applied to him and the change to his features would not allow the man to recognise him. "Of course you didn't. The blood of my lineage is quite rare these days after all." He mused quietly, continuing to caress the silver snakes on the jewellery box.

Borgin offered Harry a small nod in agreement, but the calculating look that turned to greed was unmistakeable. The young lord was a new face in the Alley, which made him Borgin's prey regardless of his status. His age certainly wasn't helping matters either. Unfortunately for the shopkeeper however, Borgin would not be able to cheat him out of anything. The Slytherin family magic would back him in this, should he need it.

"I will be taking my belongings with me." He stated calmly, eyeing the cane on the side of the room that gave off the same throb of familiar magic.

"I understand your wish my lord, but there is a small complication..." Borgin said carefully. "After all, these items you request are in a shop, and as such all have their price. I'm sure you understand."

"Indeed..." Harry gave the man a cold look, resisting the urge to sneer. He would not be leaving without the belongings that were righteously owed him. None other could hold these items after all; the magic would not let them.

"You presume much, however, Borgin. These items, as you say, are Slytherin family heirlooms. As you were trying to keep me from touching them earlier, you know very well what they do to those without the proper authorisation." A small smirk found its way onto his lips as he looked at the man, knowing he had him exactly where he wanted.

"I will not be cheated out of what is rightfully mine, and as you know who I am, you should be wary of crossing me. I assure you things will not end well for you should you manage to anger me." While he had no idea where the sudden clipped speech and cold tones came from, he was glad for them when he saw Borgin sneer and his fingers twitch for a moment before seemingly giving in.

Continuing his slow trek through the store Harry made his way to the next item that attracted him, a cane that rather reminded him of Lucius' but with emeralds instead of rubies forming the snake's eyes. Not to mention the serpent had been carved out of beautiful ivory, rather than the silver of Lucius' cane. He liked this one much better, despite not having any use for it.

He smiled and caressed the ivory, once again watching the material it had been carved from ripple under his fingers. What he had not expected was for the ornament to speak. **"Take me from here Master; I tire of being coveted by fools."** Harry chuckled at the serpent tongue and inclined his head, picking up yet another artefact that no other had been able to touch.

There were a few books on parselmagic that Harry managed to get his hands on as well, those being the only items he actually paid for, though probably inevitably for quite a bit more than they were worth, seeing as Borgin was quite annoyed with him. Sirius on the other hand was rather amused, having watched everything from a corner of the store to see how Harry would fare.

Despite Borgin being less than pleased, he knew he would be coming back here; the shop turned out to be quite more useful than anticipated. The box and books were added to his bottomless bag while Harry kept the cane in hand, deciding he would speak to it and learn more about its enchantments and abilities as soon as they were back at Grimmauld place.


End file.
